LG aims for smart but simple with new webOS TV interface

Reinvents the wheel

The tech rumour mill has come through once again: LG's new webOS TV platform has been made all official at CES 2014 and the first sets running the internet-friendly software have been announced.

The new interface is compatible with HTML5 apps, which should mean it can easily run open-source apps. Most smart TV platforms are locked down. Devs can't build one app for both a Samsung TV and a Sony TV, for example, but in LG's words, "LG Smart TV plays well with others."

The idea of the webOS interface is to make it as easy and quick as possible for you to find what you want to watch, pulling in options from a range of services.

LG hopes you'll agree it is super easy to use, with a customisable home screen and easy one-click browsing while watching TV.

Lean back

The 'Today' screen shows you programmes that you might like that are available on smart TV services as well as live TV, while the 'Live Menu' lets you jump quickly to things you recently watched and apps you used while 'Future' looks to whet your appetite with trailers and previews of upcoming shows.

LG's also pretty pleased with its LG Recommendations service - a bespoke list of live TV, film and app reccomendations. LG hasn't told us yet how it'll work these out, but if we had to guess we'd say it's likely to be a combination of popular shows and what you've watched in the past.

There are already a fair few apps already on board - Netflix, Vimeo, Amazon, YouTube and Hulu are the top of the streaming tree, while IMDB, Skype, Twitter, Disney, and Facebook are also present and correct, and you can scroll through them all while you're still watching something.

The TVs will also let you access your HDMI inputs from the smart TV launcher with labels for your PlayStation, Xbox and Blu-ray player et al.

LG promises that 70% of the smart TVs it releases in 2014 will come with the webOS interface, but the first announced are the swanky LG77EC9800 and the too-big-for-our-eyes 105-inch LG 105UC9.

The first of the TVs with LG's new smart TV interface should make their debuts between now and the end of March 2014.